How To Become A Watch Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a watch engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A watch engineer performs a similar job as Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators. A watch engineer makes an average of $30.18 an hour, totaling $62,774 in a year.

As a Watch Engineer, you are responsible for inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to find the cause of errors or other defects. You will monitor processes and review information from materials, or the environment, to assess and detect problems.

The watch engineer ensures that all laws, regulations, or standards specific to a process comply. They are also in charge of maintaining and repairing electrical and mechanical equipment. The watch engineer establishes long-range objectives and plans the strategies and actions to achieve them.

A degree in a related field is the basic requirement for filling the position of a watch engineer. A watch engineer must have operation monitoring, troubleshooting, problem-solving, communication, time management, and system analysis skills. They must also know how to conduct quality control tests.

ScoreWatch EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.2

Avg. Salary $91,906

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.7

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.45%

Asian 7.48%

Black or African American 13.30%

Hispanic or Latino 16.45%

Unknown 4.50%

White 57.83%

Gender

female 1.22%

male 98.78%

Age - 52

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 52

Stress level

7.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a watch engineer

Explore watch engineer education requirements

Most common watch engineer degrees

Bachelor's

34.1 %

Associate

22.8 %

High School Diploma

19.5 %

Start to develop specific watch engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
HVAC	12.24%
Plant Equipment	9.49%
Preventive Maintenance	7.77%
Chillers	6.09%
Plumbing	5.88%

Complete relevant watch engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New watch engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a watch engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real watch engineer resumes.

Research watch engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage and sustain manufacturing processes via monitoring, SPC, and data analysis to maintain overall process health and stability.
Perform vessel maintenance daily, including, but not limit to, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and HVAC.
Repair and maintenance to electric and plumbing systems.
Replace light ballasts/sockets, light switches, and outlet receptacles as needed.

Prepare your watch engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your watch engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a watch engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable watch engineer resume templates

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